Sharon, a Nigerian sex worker on her makeshift bed on the fringes of Rome, Italy

For nearly 20 years, the women of Benin City, a town in the state of Edo in the south-central part of Nigeria, have traveled to Italy to work in the sex trade. Every year, successful ones recruit younger girls to follow in their steps. Most migrant women, including those who end up in the sex industry, have made a clear decision to leave home and take their chances overseas. They are headstrong and ambitious women who migrate in order to escape conflict, persecution, environmental degradation, natural disasters, and other situations that affect their habitat and livelihood.

Many migrants have sensibly identified Europe as where the money is. They have varying experiences, but their problems are more to do with the wider cultural complexities they encounter than the specifics of their chosen trade.What emerges is a sub-human condition these people live.

These workstead pits of dirt, tarps and abuse are shrines to the shortcomings of globalisation and the social safety net.

For nearly 20 years, the women of Benin City, a town in the state of Edo in the south-central part of Nigeria, have traveled to Italy to work in the sex trade. Every year, successful ones recruit younger girls to follow in their steps. Most migrant women, including those who end up in the sex industry, have made a clear decision to leave home and take their chances overseas. They are headstrong and ambitious women who migrate in order to escape conflict, persecution, environmental degradation, natural disasters, and other situations that affect their habitat and livelihood.

Many migrants have sensibly identified Europe as where the money is. They have varying experiences, but their problems are more to do with the wider cultural complexities they encounter than the specifics of their chosen trade.What emerges is a sub-human condition these people live.

These workstead pits of dirt, tarps and abuse are shrines to the shortcomings of globalisation and the social safety net.